Safety device or pin.



PATENTED JAN. 29, 1907.

H. WILLIS. v SAFETY DEVICE 0R PIN. APPLICATION FILED APR.10.1905.

. Je 11mg a l wawto c af fldu Mm.

HENRYM. WILLIS, or EAST WILLISTON, NEw'YoRK.

SAFETY DEVICE OR PIN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 29, 1907.

Application filed April 10, 1905. Serial No. 254,745.

To wll uhom it iii/my concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY M. WILLIS, a citizen of the United States,residing in East Williston, Nassau county, and State of New York, haveinvented a new and. useful Im provement in a Safety Device or Pin, ofwhich the following is a description.

This invention relates to an improvement in safety devices, pins, andstructures of like character.

An object of this invention is to provide a device which may be used asa safety-pin, breast-pin, watch-chain, or fob-guard, bouquet-holder, andfor any and all other purposes for which safety-pins are ordinarilyused.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device of the characternoted'by means of which the pin can be forced through the material towhich it is to beattached or secured by means of the body of the devicevia, by grasping the body of the device and forcing the pin through thematerial without fear of the pin bending, breaking, or swinging in suchmanner as to render its manipulation impossible or ineffective.

Other objects of this invention will be set forth during the course ofthis description; and with them all in view the invention consists intheparts, features, and combination of elements hereinafter describedand claimed.

In the drawings forming part of this description, Figure 1 shows inenlarged vertical section one form of this invention. Fig. 2 shows inelevation, on smaller scale, the form of device of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is aside elevation of another form of my invention. Fig. 4 is a sideelevation of still another form of the device, parts being in section.Fig. 5 is a side elevation showing still another form. Fig. 6 is across-section taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 7 is a sectiontaken on the line 7 7 of Fig. 1.

Thebody or frame of the safety device or pin is indicated by 1, the pinby 2, the socket end, in which the pin 2. is secured, by 3, and thecatch end, in which the free end of the pin is held, by 4.

The body portion may be composed of either solid or tubular material,and the ma terial may be any kind of metal, precious or otherwise, ormay be made of any character of composition. By forming the body portiontubular, however, it can be made much smaller in cross-section and stillbe strong enough to stand all the strains of wear and use Withoutbending or losing its shape. The tubular form is specially desirablewhen the body portion is made of soft or precious metals. The ends 3 and1 are turned or bent aside from the body portion, as shown, for thepurpose of forming bearings and retain ers for the pin.

In the forms of Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 5 the end 3 has the butt-end of thepin 2 firmly secured in a socket therein by means of solder 5 or in anyother suitable manner, the said pin bemg so secured in its socket end 3as to extend therefrom in the general direction of the catch end orbearing 4: at the opposite end of the body portion, but at an angle orlaterally thereto, so as to normally stand separated therefrom. Thisdisposition of the pin relatively to the body portion or the catch endthereof is for the purpose of enabling the pin to be properly held inthe catch by its own resilient strength, said pin being usually made oftempered or flexible or elastic metal, so as to'be flexed or sprung intothe catch. The catch end of the device may or may not be closed orplugged when the body is tubular, said end being usually open, as shownat 6, and said catch end is formed at its side with thelongitudinally-cut slot or depression 7, which is sufliciently wide orlarge to admit the end of the pin 2 and is which the free end of the pinis retained-in the depression or groove 9, the side wall 10 limiting thelateral movement of the pin 2.

The precise shape of the body portion 1 is not material, but dependsentirely upon the use to which the device is to be putthat is to say, ifused as a bouquet-holder the body portion will be given thelarge bow orswellshown in Figs. 1, 2, 4, and 5; if to be used as a safety-pin, theradius of the bow will not be so great and may be given any other shapebesides semicircular or curved as, for example, the angular form shownin Fig. 3; if used as a watch-chain guard, it may be made quite smalland more closely approximating a circle, and if used as a either angularor semicircle or otherwise formed to suit the width of the fob-ribbon.Obviously any other form or shape can be giventhe device,and,infact,thebodyportion also provided with the ear, lip, or catch 8,by

watch-fob guard or retainer it may be made maybe made fiat, angular, orgiven any other general contour or form in outline or crosssectionsuitable for the purposes and uses to which it may be put. The angularform shown in Fig. 3 is useful for various purposes such, for example,as watch-fobs, belts, &c. In other respects this form of Fig. 3 may besubstantially identical in structure with that shown in Figs. 1, 2, and3.

In the form shown in Fig. 5 the catch end or leg portion 11 of the bodyportion is shown slightly shorter than the socket end 3, and the pin 2is shown as set substantially straight in the socket end 3, instead ofat an angle relatively thereto, as in the other forms. By thisconstruction obviously the same function is obtainedviz., enabling thepin to be flexed or sprung under the lip 8, and be thereby retained byits resilient strength in groove 9, the walls of which lat ter, as inthe other forms, afford a substantial bearing for the free end of thepin.

In the form of Fig. 4 the pin 2 instead of being soldered or rigidly setor secured in the socket end 3, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 5, may bepivoted in said socket end. In this construction the socket 12 in theend 3 will be slightly larger in diameter than the butt-end of the pin2, so as to permit of a slight freedom of movement, as shown in Fig. 4.In this latter figure the pivotal pin is indicated by 13, which passesthrough the walls of the socket end 3 and also through the butt-end ofthe pin. In this form a limitation will be placed upon the movement ofthe pin 2 by shoulder 14 on one side, and the shoulder 15 on the otherside, of the mouth of the socket 12. The shoulder 14 will limit theinward movement of the pin 2 and cause the latter to stand normally atthe angle shown in Fig. 4, which is similar to that shown in otherfigures, thus rendering it necessary to spring the pin 2 into the socket9 of the catch end 4 and cause the resiliency of the pin to retain itsend in the catch and cause the said pin to assume the bowed outlineindicated in Fig. 1. Thus even in this pivotal form the distinguishingfeature and one of the principles of applicants invention are retained.

The shoulder 15 constitutes the outer limit of movement of the pin 2 andprevents the same from being pressed too far away from the catch end ortoo far back relatively to the body portion 1 of the device. In otherwords, if this limiting-shoulder were not present and the pin wereallowed to have free sweep or outward movement it would not be possiblewithout holding the pin 2, as well as the body portion of the device 1,in the hand to effectively force the pin through the goods or materialto which the device is to be fas tened. In other words, one of theleading features of this invention is to provide means by which the pin2 may be rigidly held in a given position while the body portion isgrasped to force the pin into the garment or other thing to which it isto be fastened. The pivoted form of Fig. 4 permits the device to be usedon garments or materials of greater thickness or bulk than is possiblewith the form of the other figures without bending the pin 2, and thisadditional advantage forms an important and useful feature of myinvention.

Obviously any other form of hinge or pivotal connection 13 may besubstituted for that shown in Fig. 4, this feature of my invention beingintended to comprehend the idea of means which will permit the movementof the pin 2 in and relatively to the socket end 3 of the device withincertain limitations, as described.

The various uses, shapes, and forms indicated and illustrated in thedrawings are intended to be merely suggestive of the scope and objectsof my invention and are not to be considered as limitations thereof,except as required by the scope of the claims. Moreover, this device maybe made in the form of a ring or loop which may be completed by joiningthe ends of the body portion by a pin, either pivotally or rigidlyconnected to one end and movable relatively to the other end of the bodyportion.

From the above-detailed description the mode of operation of myinvention will be obvious and further explanation will be unnecessary.

Having thus described my invention in several of the various formsconceived by me, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is

1. A safety-pin having the body portion thereof tubular and bent intoloop form, and provided at one end with a catch portion and at the otherend with a pin-bearing, and a pin secured to the said bearing lengthwisethereof and held by the latter at an angle thereto so as to normallyextend laterally away from the said catch and body portions.

2. A safety device comprising a body portion having at one end thereof acatch, and at the other end thereof a socket portion formed integraltherewith, and a pin secured in said socket portion lengthwise of thelatter by means which causes it to set normally at an angle to saidsocket portion whereby said pin must be flexed into engagement with saidcatch.

3. In combination, a body portion having its ends extended at an angleto and projecting beyond the same to afford elongated bearings, a pinrigidly secured to one of said bearings lengthwise of the latter, and acatch carried by the other of said bearings, whereby the said pin isfirmly supported and held by the respective bearings.

4. A device of the kind described having a IIO body portion formed atone end into an ex- 1 In testimony whereof I have hereunto tensionprojecting beyond its body at an signed my name in the presence oftwosubangle and provided with a socket, and a pin scribing witnesses.

rigidly secured in said socket lengthwise of HENRY M. WILLIS. saidextension, the latter thus afiording a Witnesses:

bearing for said pin substantally from end to CHAS. MOO. CHAPMAN,

end of said socket. M. HERSKOVITZ.

